Cuba Libre!

Cuba’s assault on the United States was never, at root, a quarrel over economic policy or sovereignty or even ownership of a particular territory. It was a revolution against Western civilization itself — waged, in part, via the novel and insidious method of persuading the children of the West to turn against their own inheritance. - U.S. State Department

I know, I know. You listened to the President's speech on foreign countries trying to subvert our free elections and you thought he meant China or Iran or, OK, Russia if you must bring it up.

But all along it was our old nemesis Cuba. This nest of vipers 90 miles off our coast, this island that is out of gas, can't keep the lights on and has an economy that makes North Korea look like the EU, is our biggest danger. Really, no kidding. That's what birthright citizen Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State said in a long statement obviously intended to justify more military intervention abroad, because the current one is doing so well.

And he should know. Marco is the son of Mario and Oriales Rubio, who fled the island in 1956 to find a better life in the US, though obviously that isn't enough today to justify coming here. And who could blame them for fleeing this communist hellhole...no wait. The Cuban revolution wasn't until a couple of years later. They actually fled the country ruled by Fulgencio Batista,

He ran the place from 1940 to 1944, when he was actually elected President, then from 1952, when he staged a coup to overthrow the genial-looking Carlos Manuel Prío Socarrás...

...until 1958 when he was overthrown by Fidel Castro. Obviously, bitterness over losing an election isn't just an American problem.

Batista was in charge when Fredo Corleone was living it up in Godfather II, Redford was dealing cards in Havana, and Sean Connery was a hired gun in Cuba. In addition to providing fodder for some pretty good movies, Cuban-American historian Louis Perez said, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become."

Batista's BFF's then were mob bosses Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano. And, we were all dipping our beaks at the time. At the beginning of 1959, United States companies owned about 40 percent of the Cuban sugar lands—almost all the cattle ranches—90 percent of the mines and mineral concessions—80 percent of the utilities—practically all the oil industry—and supplied two-thirds of Cuba's imports.

Historian and adviser to President Kennedy, Arthur Schlesinger said...

"I loved Havana and was horrified by the way this lovely city had unfortunately been transformed into a huge casino and brothel for American businessmen […]. My fellow countrymen walked the streets, picked up fourteen-year-old Cuban girls and threw coins just for the pleasure of watching men roll around in the sewers and picking them up. One wondered how Cubans – seeing this reality – could regard the United States in any other way than with hatred."

So, Fidel Castro led the revolution that installed the government Cuba has now. His alliances with the old USSR, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and more are the legacies of that.

Well, the USSR is no more, though Putin misses it. Modern Russia, and that is an oxymoron, doesn't have the wherewithal to financially support Cuba. I mean they are losing to Ukraine now. Fidel is dead. His brother Raul is 95, and the country found to its chagrin that the communist system is pretty bad at providing for folks. The island is in perpetual blackout as power stations can't provide juice and bicycles are the most common mode of transportation.

To avert a total collapse, the government passed sweeping reforms—the largest since the 1958 revolution—allowing private banks, foreign investment, and businesses with over 100 employees. It's a beautiful place, and I have long been of the belief that if they let the folks from Marriott, Hilton and others in to work their magic, it could become a flourishing resort again, only maybe without the mob.

Hell, car collectors alone would swarm all over the place for late 50's American classics.

Cuba is on its knees, so what better time to invade? I know, my immediate reaction was, what?! But this position paper from the State Department calls Cuba the...

“capital of 21st-century communism”, accusing the Cuban government of carrying out a “campaign of subversion” that has “infiltrated the highest reaches of the US government, recruited and cultivated generations of American activists [and] backed an unprecedented wave of leftwing terrorism on American soil”.

Apparently, this geriatric cold war holdover is the source of all our problems. I mean, without these guys, Mamdani wouldn't be mayor of New York, and a couple of nut jobs wouldn't be running for Congress from the Empire State. According to the report, his election...

“...serves as a particularly potent illustration of the ideological victory of Cuba’s effort to position itself as the spiritual capital of Third Worldist radicalism”

Cuba was behind it all? I don't remember that part. And then there is all that left-wing terrorism here. And certainly there are some like Charlie Kirk or the insurance executive in New York. Not exactly Oklahoma City, but it is there. But Cuba? Here's the out that Rubio gives himself. The guys in New York are winning due to...

“...a fierce, almost religious commitment to the cause of the Cuban regime – not because the group is controlled by Cuban agents, per se, but because that commitment is now simply the de facto policy orthodoxy on the American far left”'

So, because some nutcases, and make no mistake, these new candidates fall into the nutty category, are somehow Castro's legacy, we need to punish Cuba now? Look, college kids still foolishly read Ayn Rand, but I don't want military action over that.

As I wrote a week ago, this will be the campaign mantra and it seems, according to reports, that we may use the 101st Airborne to back it up. But after the financial bleeding the military has suffered in Iran, can they?

The U.S. military is not out of money entirely, but the Pentagon is facing an urgent budget shortfall due to the high costs of the war in Iran. The unexpected wartime expenses have forced the military to divert funds from training and equipment maintenance to keep critical operations running.

And now they are thinking about doing it again?

I often hear people online justify our actions with the observation that "Well, these people are chanting 'Death to America' all the time."

My usual reaction is, so? And if Cuba remains communist, like China and Russia, that's pretty much their business, as long as they are peaceful. If some wacky college kids, like we were in the 60's, think these guys have all the answers, trust me, life will temper that fire.

You don't topple a government because gullible people like them.

During a political campaign definitions of socialism and communism become pretty fluid and smart social programs like Social Security or Medicare get ignorant labels as being akin to Stalin's collective farm plans or something.

Che Guevara was flamboyantly unsuccessful at spreading the revolution to Africa or South America. So, for heaven's sake, don't make him out to be a Cuban George Washington.

OK, he did make for a great poster, though.